The Trying Life and Times of Katia Managan
by RapturousSolution
Summary: Arriving in Cyrodiil with nothing but the clothes on her back and the will for a new start, Katia Managan finds that second chances aren't always easy. All answers lay in the future. Is Katia able to let go of her past long enough to make it to there, or will her guilt and self-hate be her undoing?


She stepped off of the merchant ships gangplank and onto the old, splintered planks of one of Cyrodiil's old harbor towns. Breathing in a breath of the sea air filled her lungs with the salty must of the ocean, co-mingling with the scents of the town; particularly fish, the must of unbathed sailors, and… _alcohol…_ The Khajiit clasped her paws over her sensitive nose as her feline pupils shrank to small slits. Under no circumstances could she fall into that cycle again, that was the reason she had come to Cyrodiil, for Azura's sake. One sip and _boop_, that would be it for her chances at a fresh start. She could do it though, she believed in herself. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath, blocking out the enticing aroma of the sweet, Cyrodiilian Brandy many local taverns were known to carry. She timidly approached an extremely muscular Imperial who wore the armor of one of Anvil's Guards and lightly tapped him on his shoulder. He turned slowly, a questioning look spreading across his face.

"What can I do ya, miss?" The gruff voice of the guard grunted, looking charitably upon the young, yellow-furred khajiit.

"Could I bother you for an immigration form, sir?" the khajiit asked tentatively, her voice hardly audible compared to the noise the waves made as they passed under the pier and crashed against the sea wall.

The guard looked at her in surprise. "Well, m'am, we don't really require immigrants to really fill out any forms anymore, after a High Court found it was used as a form of discrimination…" he trailed off, not wishing to offend the feline woman. They stood silent for a long, awkward minute before the khajiit said once more. "Could I bother you for an immigration form?" she said again, pressing her want for proper paper work. The guard relented and after sifting through a satchel of legal documents such as arrest records, death forms, and the like; he brought out an old immigration form he had kept around just in case. A guard could never have too much paperwork these days. Katia carefully took the document and got to work filling out the mandatory lines with a nub of charcoal. Sex? Female. Race? Khajiit, yadda, yadda. Name… what was her name? She looked up in concentration, her ears laying flat against her head as she contemplated the options. She for sure wasn't going to use her old name, that was done and over. She had burned that bridge, and she couldn't go back. Taking her old name would just mean she was picking up the baggage she had left in her homeland of Hammerfell. The word 'Tudor' popped into her head and she grimaced in terror. That sounded horrifyingly regal, and if there was nothing more terrifying than royalty. When she was a child, she was plagued by recurring nightmares where she was cornered in a dark room by a king, and he stood there, looking at her with his gleaming red eyes and disappointed frown. She looked back up at the guard. Man? She held her paws up to her eyes. Cat? She went back to the paper and began to write. Kat. Son of a bitch, cat started with a 'c'. She growled under her breath. No going back now, fuck it. Katia Managan. Good enough. She filled out the rest of the sheet while repeating her new name over and over again in her head. The more she said it, the less she hated it. Katia Managan. It was unique, but not a bad unique. It sounded like a name you would remember months after meeting a person. She smiled happily as she handed the guard the documents containing her new name. The guard stared at her, a concerned look visible on his face.

"You understand this isn't a requirement, right? In fact, I'm probably just going to throw this away at my first opportunity." The guard commented, looking at Katia with concern visible on his plain face.

Katia looked from the guards face, to the document, then back to his face. "I don't care." Katia said, her sharp, white teeth shining in dreary, grey afternoon. "This is a symbolic thing for me, and regardless of whether you just trash that or not, my name's on an official Cyrodilic document, and that means the world to me right now."

The guard shrugged and slipped the parchment into his belt. "Best wishes, them, m'am." he sighed. "Good luck with your new life in our great continent."

Katia continued up the pier into the town. Hardly a single person wondered the stone streets, but that wasn't surprising. There was only two visible shops in this part of town, and neither looked very enticing. One was a drab, grey shop with a sign that had the word 'shop' scrawled messily across the top with an image that was either a cauldron of shitty wands or a bag of swords. Either way, it was unappealing. Katia figured if she became extremely desperate for a job, she could always offer to redo it. The only other option for the time being was the next door restaurant. She stepped into the quaint, little place, scoping out the local scene as she did. There was a bar to the left of the entryway, behind which stood a grey haired elf, who despite the color of his hair, seemed to be fairly young. A small number of tables sat in no particular pattern about the floor of the small place, and only one was occupied at the time. A dark-skinned Redguard woman sat at one of the far tables, with another elf, this one with a hairdo similar to the one behind bar, but instead of a dull grey, it shined a bright blonde. The grey haired elf behind the bar waved to her in a friendly greeting.

"Hello!" the elf called cheerily. "Welcome to the Flowing Bowl! Is there anything I can do for you this fine day?"

Katia approached slowly, practically shuffling her way to the bar. "Hello!" Katia greeted in return, calming her nerves as she worked up the guts to ask for some sort of job. "What a cheerful tavern you have set up here!" Katia complimented, clasping her paws together and looking around the store endearingly.

The grey haired elf laughed appreciatively. "Why thank you, miss!" He gushed. "Me and my err… brother… appreciate the compliments!" The grey haired elf looked over at the blonde haired elf nervously as he apparently forgot the title he was supposed to use in some elaborate cover story.

Katia smiled. She had gotten him hooked with the smolder, time to get him with the burn. She smiled widely, attempting to make herself look as charming as possible. "Tell me, handsome, is there any possibility you and your brother need some help around here, maybe waiting tables, or cooking food, or both even?" She ran her claw around in a circle on the bar as she said it, looking up at the elf innocently.

The elf's smile fell and he shook his head. "Sorry, we're not really looking for any help. Me and my brother get everything done quite well around here."

Katia clenched her jaw nervously. "Surely you can use some sort of help, I'm willing to do really anything. Is there anyone you know of in town that could use some help? I'm not very good at anything, but I'm willing to learn..." she continued, pressing her claws into her palm.

The grey haired elf continued his head shaking. "Not at the moment. The offer is really appreciated, but we just don't have the income necessary to hire someone to do work we're already completely capable of doing. As for money, you could always sell of any items of value you have, and perhaps someone else is in the market for a maid."

Katia gave herself a quick pat-down. She only had one item to her name for the time being and that was a single lockpick she had found on the floor of the ship. She had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't going to sell for a high price. Not that she knew the going price on a lockpick, however. She had never even seen one in her life before then and it had taken her quite some time to figure out what the tool was.

Katia's eyes narrowed as she cast a dirty glare at the shop keep. Her dreams of a new life were already starting to fall apart and she was pissed. "Whatever." she lashed out, her anger getting the best of her. "Aren't you and your boyfriend supposed to be at the Gay Cyrodillian Elf Summit anyways? It's pretty obvious you two aren't brothers." Katia smiled, that was a pretty good one given the spur of the moment insult.

The grey haired elf looked at Katia, offended by her angry lashing. His boyfriend, the blonde elf, stepped behind the counter after hearing the Khajiit insult their alternative lifestyle.  
>"We've already gone." said the blonde elf as he wrapped his arm around his lover's neck defensively. "And I must admit, I'm surprised to see a Khajiit around here, as I heard they were having a sale on Fancy Feast at the Imperial City."<p>

The grey haired elf pursed his lips and happily cooed over the sick burn his companion had just delivered. Katia bit her lip and flinched from the pain the cat pun delivered against her. The burn was so hot that a candle on the bar was lit. Katia felt guilt creeping in on her mind, disappointed in herself for losing her cool in such a manner. Not sure of what to say or do next, she began to walk away from the bar, until she heard the Redguard woman from across the room calling her.

"Khajiit! Come over here for a short minute, I'd enjoy learning the name of one with such a sharp tongue!" she called, her voice slurred, obviously drunk. Katia looked around the tavern, making sure that she was the only Khajiit that the Redguard could be calling. For extra confirmation, she pointed to herself, raising an eyebrow to question the woman's calling.

"Yes, you!" the Redguard chuckled, loosely swinging around a half empty tankard, sloshing out the sweet ambrosia that was alcohol. Katia approached carefully, clutching at her arm as the enticing aroma of the alcohol drew her closer.

"You can do this Katia, if she offers, just turn down the drink, it's that easy, just gotta keep your cool…" she whispered to herself as she drew near. She stepped up to the table, standing opposite of the Redguard woman. "You called, miss?" Katia asked, holding her breath to stave off the temptation of alcohol. As she stood waiting for her to speak, the Redguard woman drew a knife on Katia, the dirty iron dagger gleaming in the dim light. Something told Katia the two elves she had just slammed on wouldn't care if she was stabbed, so the situation was suddenly that much more dangerous. She stared at the blade, trembling while the woman began to speak.

"You're new in town, eh, Khajiit?" the Redguard asked.

Katia answered, making sure to stand perfectly still as she replied. "I suppose you overheard me talking, but yes, I am new to town, thanks for asking."

The drunk laughed, the knife swaying back and forth in the Redguard's loose grip. "I used to be the new girl in town, same situation as you! Then a load of friendly people in red robes took me in and gave me everything I could ever want! Food, clothing, a roof over my head!" The Redguard laughed once more before a look of actually thought crossed her face. "Oh, hold on." she said, looking embarrassed. "I'm really probably not supposed to tell you about them. They're quiet the secretive type."

Katia shrugged. "It's quite alright. I won't pry for anymore than you've told me." In truth, Katia had been involved in cult activities back in Hammerfell for a short while. Then one night, the whole cult had killed themselves while Katia had been off having drunk sex with a Brenton. Her mindless alcoholic antics had saved her life, so she supposed that one time she was thankful for her awful habits.

The Redguard smiled. "Aw, that's sweet of you!" the woman said, letting her knife arm fall. "You know what?" she continued, bringing the knife back up and pointing it at Katia. "You're my best friend." she stated bluntly, smiling coyly. She then pointed her knife at the plate in front of her. "Damn peas…" she cursed, stabbing at them with her knife. "They are the worst fruit in the world…" she muttered, continuing her pea-bashing. She looked up at Katia and waved the pea's at her. You can have these if you want them."

Katia shook her head. "Well," Katia said, staring at the knife. "You're sort of holding me at knife point."

The Redguard woman looked at the knife surprised, like it was the first time she had noticed it was out. "Sorry about that." she apologized, sliding the knife back into the sheath on her hip. "Sometimes I just knife people, I just get stabby, you know?"

Katia had to admit, she didn't know how that felt, but she couldn't tell the drunk Redguard that, so she just stayed silent. In the resulting silence, the Redguard looked at Katia, smiling as she held out her ale to the Khajiit. "You look mighty thirsty, friend!" the Redguard cheered, sloshing more of the dark liquid onto the table.

Katia's mind was suddenly racing. Her head filled with fantastic ways to turn the situation in her favor. She could tell her new friend that she would hate to take any of her wonderful drink, she could show an old party trick where she drank it off of a knife, she could tell her about the cult she had been in, directing the conversation elsewhere. Or she could just smash the bottle over her head and run. A list of actions a brave person would take, the actions of some heroic figure. Katia was, unfortunately, not a brave person, nor a heroine. Her will shook with the effort it was taking to not drink, so rather than do anything cool or remarkable, Katia let out a terrified meow and bolted out of the tavern, leaving the Redguard in a state of confusion.

The Anvil Guard looked down at the Khajiit clutching at his tunic in confusion. "Excuse me, m'am, can I help you?" He asked. This was the same Khajiit that had asked him for the useless immigration papers earlier.

"Shhh!" The Khajiit hissed, peering around him occasionally to cast a glance at the door to the flowing bowl. After roughly five minutes of this, the Khajiit stood, clearly shaken from whatever had just happened. As she looks at you however, her eyes light up, as if a bolt of realization had just struck her.

"OF COURSE!" she shouted triumphantly, smiling as she took the guards hand and shook it. "I can be a GUARD!" the Khajiit, whom if the guard remembered had named herself Katia, hopped around in what could be considered a dance before settling down. "Tell me, sir," she began, "What would I have to do to become a city guard? I've never held a weapon in my life, I'm not very fast, and I can't lift much weight, but if I have the chance, I could probably be the best guard in the world!"

The guard cast a worried glance at the hopping Khajiit. Her only clothes were dirty, grey, beggars clothes. Even if she couldn't join the guard it was clear this woman needed help, so he decided to humor her.

"Well, I don't know if I would join the guard if I were you…" he began, watching her face fall as he spoke. "You're... how should I put this... frail." he said, clamping a hand on her bicep and squeezing. "You don't have any muscle to you, you're not very intimidating." The guard looked back to her face, his heart instantly breaking from the large, puppy dog eyes Katia was giving him. He sighed and looked away. "But I suppose the guard is never going to turn down those that are willing to give the duty a good try." He heard a gasp from the Khajiit and could only guess that her facial expression had jumped from pouting to ecstatic. "I myself don't have the authority to make you a guard, however." The man continued. "If you really want to make this happen, you're going to have to go talk to the Countess, she's the only one allowed to officially designate men and women to the guard." The guard turned back to where Katia had been, but found nothing but empty air. He looked back and forth, and caught sight of the Khajiit running into Lelle's Quality Merchandise, the store that had the worst looking sign in town. The guard had no idea what he had said to send the Khajiit scrambling, but he realized he couldn't bring himself to care. Without her pouting eyes burning into his conscious, it was hard for him to give an honest damn.

Katia stood in the shop with the crappy sign breathing heavily. She had sprinted from the guard when he mentioned interaction with royals. That was one thing she could not do, no matter how hard she tried. She would never be able to interact with royalty and that was that. Another thought occurred to her as she stood, back pressed against the door. She could be a wizard! She could learn magic like she had always wanted to! She imagined herself casting powerful restoration spells on the sick and wounded, healing their ailments and injuries. They would be so thankful and Katia would actually be appreciated for once! Don't you need a beard to cast spells though? That would be an obstacle for sure.

"Good afternoon, miss!" called a cheery voice from within the store. Katia jumped, alarmed from the sudden pull from her thoughts. A Brenton man stood behind the counter, waving merrily to Katia. "Anything I can do for you?"

Katia stepped into the store and looked around. The store was very well stocked, goods of all sorts spilling from the shelves. She approached the shop keep, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment as she did.

"Well, sir.." she sighed. "I'd love to purchase some of your wonderful wares, but unfortunately, I don't have a single septim to my name. Is there any chance you have any work that needs done? I've noticed the sign outside your shop is in a state of disrepair if you want me to redo that for you." she explained, mentioning any work she noticed could possibly need being done.

The proprietor, who Katia had guessed was Lelle, narrowed his eyes at Katia and stared at her angrily. "Whatever is wrong with my sign, miss?" he asked, his words dripping hate.

Unable to meet his contentful stare, Katia dashed back out into the street and cowered behind the guard she had been hiding behind earlier. Lelle followed her out chuckling nervously. "I'm sorry I scared you, miss! I was merely joking, please forgive me!" Katia looked up at the guard sheepishly.

"Sorry, sir, just a small misunderstanding!" Katia grinned, patting the guards thigh as she stood. She followed Lelle back into his shop, wringing her paws nervously as she did. When they were back in the shop, Lelle went to the back of his shop and brought out a sizeable wooden plaque, brushing a small amount of dust that had gathered on it off.

"I am well aware of how awful my shops sign looks.." Lelle spoke, looking at the unmarked wood. "I've been meaning to get a new sign done, as a bad sign detracts many potential customers, but my penmanship is horrendous, as you can see from the sign outside at the moment. I've been meaning to find someone who could redo it." Lelle looked up at Katia, motioning towards the plaque. "Could you do it?" he asked.

Katia nodded excitedly and felt her tail wag (a trait she hated, but only happened when she was excited or happy, so at least it wasn't often), but her excitement quickly fell back into desperation. "I'd love to do it, but I don't really have the tools for such an undertaking…"

Lelle laughed and shook his head. "Forget it, I have the tools needed, so no worries there!" He smiled, going back behind the counter once more to get the carving tools and paintbrushes. He came back within a few seconds and handed Katia leather bag of wood etching tools. "Ten septims for a job well done!" Lelle proclaimed. "You get to that, I have to go and sign for a shipment at the docks, but I'll be back in an hour or so." He started to the door, but froze in his tracks a moment before opening the door. "I don't believe I received a name, miss!" Lelle called, his happy voice carrying through the cool air.

Katia smiled widely. "Katia Managan." she said proudly. Her new name sounded like the lyrics to her favorite song, the words in her favorite poem, the concluding paragraph of her favorite story; it was beautiful, it spoke of new beginnings, of new chances for all that desired one. She was Katia Managan, and things were looking up.

Lelle smiled and nodded at her. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Managan!" before stepping out of the door. Katia practically squealed in delight. _Ms. Managan_! It was the most wonderful thing she had ever been called in her entire nineteen years of living. She was going to make the hell out of this sign! She'd make this sign so good, they'd hang it in a damn art gallery! Katia's head swam as she set about making her masterpiece.

About two hours later, Lelle walked back in through the door, feeling slightly peeved from his frustrating experience at the docks. The simpleton ship hands had accidently dropped a set of dinnerware he had ordered off the side of the ship. The company had promised a free shipment on another replacement, but the paperwork that was required to be done to recieve this was horrendous. Deep inside, he secretly wished the whole ship's crew would die and become some terrifying pirate ghosts. That would show them. He found himself worrying about the woman he had left here working on a sign that would represent his business. She didn't exactly look like a professional, she was wearing rags for Talos sake. As he approached the paint-stained Khajiit, he found himself pleasantly surprised. The sign was actually quite lovely. The lettering had an elegant scroll to it, the blue paint was a lovely backdrop, and even the package of assorted items used as the image on the board was nicely done. Katia smiled up at him, her accomplished grin infectiously spreading to Lelle's face.

"Well," asked Katia, pausing a short time before continuing, "What do you think?"

Lelle smiled at her and chuckled. "Katia, this is quite fascinating, and I'm not just saying that to humor you, it's honestly pretty good!"

This time Katia did squeal in joy. She hopped up, clapping and dancing, glee from her first honest job ever being successfully completed. Her joy was destined to be short-lived however.

"Just a moment…" Lelle said, looking closer at the sign and gritting his teeth. "You spelled Merchandise wrong…"

Katia immediately stopped her dancing, looking down at the sign with an expression that was somewhere between horror and disbelief. The sign read Lelle's Quality Mercandise. It was missing the 'h'. Katia pounced on the sign, brandishing the carving tools in a panic. "I can fix it, no one will ever know, just a little slip up!" Katia laughed, using her laughs as a coping strategy. She 'fixed' it by carving a very small 'h' above the 'c' and the 'a'. She sat back and smiled. Fixed. Her denial shattered as she stared at her mistake however, and she broke down into tears, collapsing on the sign. This had truly been her new beginning, her chance to start fresh, and she had screwed that all up because she had spaced out carving out the last word. Lelle clasped a firm, understanding hand on her shoulder as she sobbed on top of the sign.

"It's okay, Katia, you did your best. It just happened to be slightly worse than everyone else's average." he said, choosing his words carefully, or at least trying to. "I can still use the sign I'm sure, people might think I have a mental deficiency for using it, but I can use it for sure."

Katia looked up at him, rubbing tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her dirty blouse. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry…" she sobbed while trying to regain her composure. "If there's anything I can do to make up for it, anything at all, just ask…" Katia said the last sentence, loathing each word as it crawled from her mouth. She did mean anything. She would commit any filthy sexual act Lelle desired to show how sorry she was. At this point it no longer mattered she was trying to start a new, clean life. She had told herself she wasn't going to drink, she wasn't going to have disgusting, emotionless sex with strangers, she had also told herself she could do something right for once in her miserable life, and look how that had gone.

Lelle looked at her, pity filling his soft eyes. "No, Katia, you've done quite enough, please don't offer such things for something so small."

Katia buried her head in her elbow. She couldn't stand the condescending pity, the refusal to accept the one thing she knew how to do as compensation, the ballsy statement that this was simply just _another small thing. _She wanted to vomit.

"Now, about your payment…" Lelle said, looking back to the sign. "I'm not just going to hand out money for jobs not done to their fullest…" he paused, considering the morality of his decisions. "The most i'm willing to pay is one septim."

Katia wiped at her eyes once more, keeping her gaze focused on the ground in front of her. She couldn't bare the thought of looking into Lelle's disappointed eyes again. "I'll take it." Katia said, desperation closing in on her at this late hour. She held out her paw and felt the smooth, cold surface of one septim fall into her palm.

"If you need somewhere to stay for the night, the church has pews in the back you would be able to sleep at for free…" Lelle said, offering Katia at least some meager form of information.

Katia, nodded dumbly, at this point reacting more than listening. She started for the door, preparing to head out into the cold, dark streets of an unknown land.

"I appreciate the help!" Lelle called after her, waving in a friendly manner. Katia did not hear, she was already closing the door behind her and stepping into the dark streets of night time Anvil.

Katia brought the coin to her face and stared at it. It was so cold and she was hungry and tired and upset and there was only one thing she could think of to spend this one septim on. The one thing that could momentarily fix the mess she had made of the day. She knew that when she woke up tomorrow, she'd be about ten times worse off than she was now, but right now, she needed solace, and she didn't give a damn. She walked back into the Flowing Bowl, no hesitation in her determined stride as she walked toward the bar and hopped up onto a vacant bar stool.

"Better get used to this place. You'll be here just as much as in a strangers bed, get comfy, slut." her conscious criticized her, blasting her with awful memories from her past.

The grey haired elf approached her, looking at her angrily from narrowed eyes. "Anything I can get you, cat?" The elf hissed, smiling from the strike he delivered against the already down individual. Katia simply tallied it as another reason to never emerge from the drunken stupor she was about to fall into.

She dropped the septim on the counter, not caring to respond to the grey haired elves insults. "One ale, please." she asked, her voice sounding far off and dead. The elf took her septim and slid a bottle of ale her way, not caring to shoot another insult her way. The aroma swirled around Katia, filling her nostrils with the familiar smell of her own shortcomings.

A harsh laugh cackled to her right, and Katia took a slow glance at man beside her. An old, bald fellow, nudged Katia, chuckling drunkenly. "You look damn fine for a khajiit, girlie. I myself have never been afraid of trying some more exotic meat, if you catch my drift!" another disgusting laugh from the old drunk idiot. Katia felt the last of her knew life shatter inside. She decided she was going to sleep with this wrinkly, aged vagabond in spite of herself. She would prove to herself what a horrible good-for-nothing skank she was. If she was going to completely destroy her chances of a new life, she wanted to chose how she was going to do it, and letting this old drunk take advantage of her would be the last straw. She turned back to her bottle. "I should've known second chances are too good for me…" Katia whispered harshly, tears beginning to fall from her eyes again. She rose the bottle to her lips, ready to give it all up. "Bottoms up." she groaned, lifting the bottles neck to her lips. She felt the bittersweet liquid cascade down her throat, and then, she felt nothing.

Katia bolted upright, jolting from the black-out she had thrown herself into. Her body ached and her head pounded. The room smelt of sweat and booze. In the bed next to her lay a huge, muscular orc. Katia gently lifted the blanket. Yep, he was naked all right. So was she. There was some illegible word written on the back of his head in purple paint, it looked like the name 'Murphy'. A bullseye was drawn on the wall in purple paint, and from the wall stuck several arrows and a sword that had been jammed hilt-deep into the wall. The window to the left of the bed was shattered, the glass shards laying on the floor. On a dresser across the room sat a fish bowl full of peas. On the floor lay a large book, laying face down, the cover and back slopped in purple paint. The cover appeared to have a crude painting of a cat and her name was written down the spine. In the corner sat a pure white unicorn, it's beautiful coat marred with more purple paint. Purple flames had been drawn up and down it's side, a pair of abs had been painted on it's lengthy neck, and on it's snout the word 'merchandise' was scrawled. Katia groaned and lay her face in her hands. She had really screwed up this time.

Tab looked at the shattered second story window of Quill-Weave's house. She was there all right, he could even see the blade of a sword sticking out of the wall. He chuckled silently to himself and shook his head. Tab had seen Katia go into the Flowing Bowl last night and had thought about stepping in and intervening then and there, saving her from the pain of screwing up completely on her first night in Cyrodiil. He had rejected the thought, deciding this would be a good experience, build some character and what not, and he believed he was right. He probably wouldn't even stop her from drinking the vintage wine she would find tonight. Let her suffer for a bit before presenting her with a way to escape her vicious cycle. He found no pleasure in letting her suffer, but it would teach her a thing or two, and these would be good lessons in self-confidence. If she was able to pick herself up at least a few times, she would have at least a small amount of the can-do attitude he would need from her. Plus, the way things were happening would build some good relationships with the inhabitants of Anvil. And he finally got to see the pineapple-yo-yo trick that she had become famous for in Hammerfell. Tab had no idea you could do that with a pineapple while doing that with a yo-yo, and then doing the things together! It really had been fascinating.

"Sir.." muttered the small kobold standing next to him. "Don't you think we should vamoose before someone sees us out here, just staring at this Argonian's bedroom window?"

Tab looked down at the small bipedal dragon. "Probably." he said, thinking about the negative kickback a rumor of him staring at Quill-Weave's broken window could have. He already had quite the negative reputation in this town. He sighed and sent one last look of longing up at the window. "Did I do the right thing letting this happen, Shad?" he asked the knowledgeable Kobold.

The kobold shook his head. "Not for me to say, sir." he said, looking up at his master with his glowing orange eyes. He nervously scratched at the tan scales on his arm as he considered what to say next. "I will say that character building is a good thing however. Think of her as a child. She's new to this land, yes? Let her get her own bearings before you approach her. As you mentioned last night, I would let her get through today by herself as well. Let her tussle with the imp's and drink again. Step in tomorrow while she's at the Mages Guild. They love you there, so they're bound to put in a good word about you."

Tab looked at Shad questioningly and laughed. "For you not being able to say if it's right or wrong, you certainly have a lot to say about whether it's right or wrong."

Shad shrugged as the two of them began to walk back to their humble abode. "I offer my advice, but I wouldn't take it. I'm simply a lacky, after all."

Tab laughed once more and patted Shad's spikey head. "Your advice is fine. I think I'm going to keep her from getting robbed by that dick of an orc. Maybe even kill off a few of the Imps so she might be able to do a little better in the fight."

The two of them continued to talk about their future plans for the khajiit known as Katia as they walked off, heading towards the wealthier side of town.


End file.
